Duality Pact
by Lomoke
Summary: A pact made between two races to help each other, while beginning the relationship of an unlikely pair. A story of their rocky start and how they become inseparable!
1. Striking a Deal

_*...with tensions rising between the steadily growing workforce of Faunus in Mistral, and local human denizens, conflict might soon start to arise.*_ A news reporter said on the t.v. while standing in front of a mob of humans and faunus.

In the room with the t.v stood two men waving their hands about and seemingly in conflicting conversation not even paying attention to the report.

"Do you really think that this deal will have any effect over what's going on right now?" a male with short cropped blonde hair and bright blue eyes said.

Another man with a long mane of dark black hair and golden eyes responded, "If this _doesn't_ work then my people will have no chance at all anywhere on Remnant."

"I just don't feel totally comfortable with signing away another person's life just like that. I mean, what if it just falls apart later on in life?!" The blond exclaimed with a slightly nervous voice.

The black haired man pondered on this for a moment. "It might not work out further down the line, but for right now _this_ is what we need to happen. I believe they would understand when they are older."

The blonde man sighed as he stepped a few feet away from the other man running a hand over his head. Just then a little boy came running into the room where the two men were.

"PAPA, PAPA, PAPA! There's a stranger in my room!" The little boy yelled. He had growing blond hair, bright blue eyes, and a round innocent face.

The blonde man chuckled a bit at the boy. "Calm down Jaune, that's not a stranger. Remember what your mom says?"

Jaune tilted his head a bit as he thought. "S-strangers are just...friends you haven't met yet?" He said very unsure of himself while wringing his hands together.

Mr. Arc grinned at the boy and nodded. "Those are some wise words if i've ever heard any." said the man with black hair.

It seemed that in Jaune's rush to get his fathers help he hadn't even noticed the other man in the room, as he let out a small shriek at the new voice.

"W-who are you?" Jaune said as he back up into his father's legs.

Mr. Arc just shook his head at his sons antics. ' _He already forgot what he just said.'_

"Well, Jaune, my name is Ghira." The man with black hair said while he knelt down so he was eye level with Jaune.

"It's a pleasure to meet you!" Ghira said while extending his hand to the boy.

Jaune started to reach out his hand and was about to shake when he noticed that Ghira had claws on the ends of his fingers and stopped moving his hand immediately.

Ghira noticed Jaune stop and was about to pull away when Jaune just seemed to burst.

"WOW! You have claws! That's so cool! Can you climb up walls? Can you cut stuff with them? Can you give haircuts? How about-" Jaune was about to continue when Mr. Arc patted his head and quieted him.

"Give Mr. Belladonna a chance to speak Jaune." He said.

Jaune instantly turned a slight shade of red in embarrassment at his own outburst. He couldn't help it though, having claws must be so cool and he wanted to know all about it.

"Well Jaune, thank you for the compliments. Maybe someday I'll answer your questions about them." At that Jaune slightly frowned, wanting to know all about his claws _now_.

"In the meantime, that stranger in your room is actually my daughter." Ghira said with pride.

"Blake! Come here please!" He said loudly so that his daughter can hear him in the other room.

Soon after a small girl came into the room where the other three males were and stood next to her father. She had long black hair just like him, shining yellow eyes, and...a pair of small cat ears atop her head.

"Jaune, meet Blake. Blake, meet Jaune." Ghira said as he slightly nudged his daughter forward, while Mr. Arc did the same to Jaune.

Now remembering his mothers famous quote he tried to redeem himself. "Hi...My name's Jaune, Jaune Arc!" he said while extending his hand out to Blake.

Blake looked down at Jaune's hand then back up to her father. When he nodded she turned back to Jaune and took his hand briefly. "My name's Blake." She said quickly then let go of Jaune's hand.

"There now you two aren't strangers anymore. How about you show her back to your room Jaune while me and Mr. Belladonna continue to talk." Mr. Arc suggested to his son.

Jaune just nodded and started to run to his room. "Come on Blake, I have a lot of cool stuff to show you!"

Blake significantly lagged behind the boy and just slowly walked in the direction of the room.

"Well looks like they'll get along well." Ghira said while watching his daughters retreating form.

Mr. Arc just nodded in agreement with him. Then he let out a sigh having to return back to their previous conversation.

( **Jaune's Room** )

"...and right here I have my X-Ray and Vav comic book collection, and over here is my video game console!" Jaune said as he rushed around his room trying to show off all the cool stuff he had to Blake.

In turn Blake just stood in the middle of the room with a blank expression, not seeming to care about all of Jaune's stuff.

As Jaune continued to run around the room Blake took a look around for herself. It was a big enough room for the boy to live in comfortably. A twin size bed, closet to hang his clothes, drawers to hold other belongings.

"Do you have any books?" She asked.

Jaune quickly stopped what he was doing. Turing to look at the girl whose first words to him were about literature.

"Ummm….ya I do have one book." Jaune said as he made his way to his bedside drawer.

He opened the top shelf and reached in, pulling out a thick leather bound book that looked to be at least a thousand pages.

Jaune visibly struggled to hold the book up for a second before he flopped it down on his bed. Blake visibly cringed at the handling of the book, but nonetheless was intrigued about what the book was. When she walked towards the bed she could now read the title of the book. ' _Remnant: A Book of Legends'_.

Just from the title Blake could assume that the book was about fantasy and lore about different things on Remnant. She was about to ask Jaune for a real book when she caught the look in his eye and stayed quite.

Jaune was staring at the book with an empty gaze, and ever so slowly the ends of his lips started to curl up into a smile.

"You want to know my favorite story from the book?" Jaune asked, not looking away from said object.

Blake didn't audibly respond to the boy, and instead moved just a bit closer to him so she could clearly hear what he had to say.

"It's the story of the shining knight." Jaune says as he opens the book and starts to flip to some place near the middle.

Once he lands on the page he wants, he pushes the book more towards Blake.

On the left hand side there was a beautiful picture of a woman in shining white armor, two yellow crests adorning her chestplate. She held a spear outwards as if leading a charge into battle, and with a determined look in her eyes.

Before Blake could ask any questions about the story, Jaune gained a determined glint in his eyes and spoke.

"It's about a legendary warrior who arrived once the Great War ended and humanity almost perished. No one knows who she was or where she came from, only that with her massive strength she protected the people during their last stand and pushed back the endless tide of Grimm." He said with excitement in his voice.

He flipped a few pages over to another picture. This one was of the same woman in mid combat. She no longer held her spear and instead held a sword and shield. The shield was in the face of a Beowolf and her sword slashing across the chest of a Ursa.

"She gave hope back to humanity that we could survive. That we could come back from the brink and strive forward. She was a shining beacon that cut through the dark." Jaune said, finishing slowly.

The two kids sat there in silence with both staring at the picture of the knight.

"When I get older... I want to be just like her." Jaune said quietly.

Blake looked at him with slightly narrowed eyes and said, "You want to a famous and strong warrior?", expecting him to immediately say yes.

Jaune didn't though as he looked Blake in the eyes.

"I want to be a beacon of light that will push back the dark. I want to be a shield for humanity. I want to...protect the people i care about." He said with a smile at the end.

Blake stared at the boy in front of her. He was weird and very eccentric, he had an odd goal for his life, but maybe….maybe he's alright.

Blake finally changed her expressionless demeanor and gave a slight smile to Jaune.

' _Maybe he's someone that I could call a friend'_ Blake thought, as Jaune smiled back at her with a goofy grin plastered on his face.

 **(Back in the Living Room)**

"Well then, I think we have everything sorted out Ghira. We just need to tell them and make the announcement to the public." Mr. Arc said.

Ghira nodded as he called out. "Kids! Could you please come back into this room."

There was a loud muffled slam and a sound of a drawer being opened and closed before Jaune and Blake came back into the room.

Ghira smirked a bit at the way the two of them entered the room. Jaune had Blake's hand in his own and was quickly dragging her along with him.

Normally his daughter would have none of that and tear herself away from anyone who would do that. However, instead of that, he noticed she willingly went along with the boy and even had a slight smile on her face.

The two kids finished walking into the room and stood in front of their respective parent, both waiting for something to happen.

Mr. Arc got on his knee so that he could look the two of them easily in the eyes.

"Me and Mr. Belladonna have come to make an arrangement that we believe will improve all of humanity." He said.

Jaune's eyes brightened as he heard those words excited about what his father was about to tell the two of them.

' _Maybe he's going to train us both in combat! Or maybe he is going to send us to train with Ghira! Oh, Or maybe he's going to-'_ Jaune was thinking.

"The two of you are to be betrothed." The two men said in unison.

Both the kids just looked up at the adults, then at each other, then back up at the adults.

In unison they said, "What does betrothed mean?"

 **AN: HELLO LOYAL SUBJECTS! I am back and with a new story. I've been planning this one for a long while now, and I couldn't have done it without the help of Bpheadhunter(the loyalist of subjects). With our combined brain power and a plan for the future we have created something together that I think I'll be very proud to be putting on this website. Bp not only helped me write and plan the story but was also was a great beta. So thank you Bp, and I hope all you readers enjoy what we have created.**


	2. News Report

_*Hello everyone, I'm Lisa Lavender new reporter for Vale daily news, and today I'm joined by the leader of the White Fang as well as the head of the infamous Arc household. If what little information I've been told is true then today surely looks like it's going to be going in the history books.*_

In the middle of Vale downtown park stood the two mentioned men, standing in an open field of grass and the occasional flower. Both of their families flanking either side of them all staring and smiling at the news reporters camera.

"Hey dad...what's going on?" Jaune asked. He was wearing his sunday best for when he went to go visit his grandparents. A Dark blue button down shirt that matched his eyes and a pair of regular khaki pants. What confused Jaune was that he wasn't anywhere near his grandparents house...and it wasn't even sunday!

Mr. Arc smiled down at his boy as he kneeled down to look him in the eyes. He placed one of his large hands on Jaune's tiny shoulder and said, "Today Jaune, we're hopefully going to be making history. To make the world a better place. Maybe not right away….but over time things will be sure to change."

Jaune in turn smiled and nodded at his father as he stood back up and looked forward towards the cameras again. To be honest that explanation still didn't explain anything to Jaune, but at least he knew it was something good they were doing.

As Jaune turned to look at the Belladonnas he noticed Blake standing next to her father and actually not that far from where he was. Jaune quickly glanced up at his parents and saw they were both distracted with the reporter lady, and when he turned to his sisters they were all making funny faces at the cameras.

Seeing this perfect opportunity Jaune tiptoed behind his parents and closer to where Blake stood. He had made it right behind before he was caught by Blake. She had turned suddenly to look right at him. Her large yellow irises stared directly into his bright blue ones. They were silent for a few moments before Blake took a step back from where she stood and was now next to Jaune.

"What do you think you're doing?" Blake said in a neutral tone where it was hard for Jaune to tell if she was angry or happy to see him.

"I got bored and wanted to talk to you." Jaune said with a goofy grin.

Blake however frowned at his explanation. "Don't you know this is an important event? We need to be on our best behavior right now and you're messing around." she said.

Blake finally showed some emotion in her voice, sadly it wasn't the one Jaune wanted to hear.

"I just wanted to hang out with you since I haven't seen you in like a month." Jaune said sadly as he looked down and kicked at the slightly swaying grass in front of him.

Blake just sighed and walked up to the boy who looked like a kicked puppy, and gave him a very quick hug before retreating back to where she was standing. "There, are you happy now." she said.

Jaune looked up so fast Blake swore she heard a crack. He had a huge grin on his face as he gave a leaping hug towards her.

"I knew you missed me also!" Jaune said while holding onto Blake tightly not letting her escape.

Blake's face grew red and she turned her head to see if either of her parents were looking. Thankfully for her conscious they were both still looking forward. Little did she know the two of them were both smiling vibrantly towards the cameras now.

As Jaune finally let go of Blake she quickly pushed him back to give herself some breathing room. Jaune didn't care though so he still had a huge smile on his face.

As the two stood there bantering Lisa Lavender started to walk closer to the two families. "Here are the two families now waiting to publicly address what they hope to be great news for all of Remnant." She said as she now stood directly in front of the families.

Mr. Belladonna stepped forward so that he could be clearly heard through the microphone that Lisa was shoving in his direction. "Thank you for coming here today, not on behalf of just the White Fang, but I believe for all Faunus on remnant." He started.

"As you know myself and the Arc clan have held recent meeting over things that we believe will shape history in a positive way." he said while looking towards Mr. Arc and motioning him forward.

As Mr. Arc stepped forward he began to speak now. "Since man could remember there has been a clear and dividing gap that separates human and faunus." He said while gesturing to himself and Mr. Belladonna.

"We have waged war with one another. Spilled blood in the belief that one of us was better." Mr. Arc continued while letting that information sink in. "I wish I could say that our feud had ended in peace and prosperity for everyone, but sadly that was not the case."

Mr. Belladonna now started to speak again. "The Faunus rights war ended after many bloody battles and after it was over hate still continued to brew around all of us."

"Faunus still live as second class citizens in many places on Remnant, and are rarely treated as equals to many humans." he continued. "I created the White Fang to peacefully protest for true Faunus equality, but that has been going to slow."

"That is why I have reached out to the Arc clan, a prominent staple in human history, to help me in my endeavors." Mr. Belladonna said.

"Together, we believe that we can further push the idea of treating the Faunus as human equals, because that it what they truly are." Mr. Arc said.

"So what is this plan that the two of you have designed for furthering Faunus equal treatment?" Lisa said.

The two men looked at each other and nodded, before parting from each others side to show Jaune and Blake both standing next to each other blissfully unaware they were now being broadcasted to the world.

"Oh, I know." Jaune said while still looking towards Blake. "I can come over to your house and we can play there!"

Blake gave a small smile towards Jaune. "Maybe...I would have to ask my dad first though before you could come over." She said finally giving in to Jaune's persistence that they meet again soon.

Mr. Belladonna cleared his throat and caused the two kids to jump and turn to face the camera. They both stood like deer caught in a truck's headlights not saying a word.

Mr. Arc gave a laugh at the children's antics while Mr. Belladonna just smirked.

"We have decided that our two families will unify through our children with a pact." Mr. Arc said.

Some of Jaune's older sisters had their mouths hanging open in shock while Lisa Lavender started to stutter over her words.

"S-so you mean to say. That your children are now b-betrothed to one another?" she asked causing Mr. Arc and Mr. Belladonna to nod their heads. Afterwards she quickly moved towards the two kids in question.

"How do the two of you feel about this? Are you truly fine about going through with this?" She asked quickly.

Jaune and Blake were still frozen to their spots, but Jaune was soon to break out of his shell shock. Still not understanding what betrothed meant all he could do was nod his head and say yes. "I am fine, yes. Thank you." Jaune said as politely as he could.

Blake continued to stare at Lisa in silence until Jaune nudges her with his elbow, which didn't cause her to verbally give an answer but instead just nodded her head.

Lisa stood in shocked silence for a moments before she shook her head and composed herself as best she could. "Well as far as first reports go this had got to be a truly spectacular one." She said as she started to walk back to where she originally stood in the park.

Jaune's older sisters quickly started to demand what her father was thinking, while he just smiled and calmly answered their questions.

Mr. Belladonna then walked up to the two kids while smiling. "So what was that I heard about Jaune visiting us?" he asked in a teasing manner.

Blake finally broke her silence while trying to explain herself to her father. "I-I was going to ask you first I swear. I wasn't just going to sneak him back to our home!" she said while going a bit red.

Mr. Belladonna laughed as he ruffled Blake's hair a bit. "Don't worry Blake I was only pestering you. Of course Jaune can come over to our home whenever he wants to." he said.

"Woohoo!" Jaune exclaimed as he jumped for joy for a bit then stopped suddenly.

"Wait...I don't know where you guys even live." Jaune said.

Mr. Belladonna smiled as he leaned to Jaune. "We live on a wonderful island called Menagerie."

 **Author's Note: Hello again little people. I have come back today to bless you with this new chapter and bring joy to the internet. Life is swell(because it's a bruise) and will continue to be. Live, love, and all that jazz. Blah blah, blue, is this note long enough yet?!**


	3. Menagerie

To many faunus the island of Menagerie is a safe haven. A port in the storm from all of the racial inequality from the other continents. It was the holy land where other faunus ran the island and made the decisions that seemed fair to everyone. Since the island is a majority of faunus you'll rarely ever see a regular human walking amidst the extra featured people.

When the boat that the Belladonnas owned docked into the port of Kuo Kuana there was a pretty decent sized crowd of faunus waiting. Once the walkway had been set down the people quietly waited until they saw their leader, Ghira Belladonna. He stood tall and proud in front of his followers with a grin. He slowly raised his arm up with his hand balled into a fist quickly quieting the crowd.

"Hello again my brothers and sisters! I return bearing great news." Ghira said loudly so that everyone could hear him.

He began to slowly walk down towards the crowd while lowering his arm. "The meeting with the human population in Vale has proved a success! Our relations are strengthening right now as I speak." He said earning a murmur of excited whispers through the crowd.

"How did you manage to convince _humans_ to work with us?" A random faunus in the crowd shouted out with a slight sneer at the word human."

The crowd quickly silenced once again and waited for a response from Ghira, who in turn grinned wider than before.

"It wasn't easy I'll tell you that." He said earning a few laughs from the crowd. "But believe it or not there _are_ some humans who believe in equality between our two races. It just took awhile to find them and make negotiations work for the both of us."

"What were the negotiations about?" another faunus said loudly enough to be heard in the crowd.

Ghira's face lost its grin and took on a more serious demeanor. "It took weeks of communication between us but we came to an agreements...to form a pact between two of our families."

Ghira let that information soak into the people for a second before continuing. "I'm sure many of you have heard stories about the infamous Arc family and how they are renowned fighters. Maybe even stories of how they decided to side with the faunus during the Faunus Rights Revolution."

The crowd was once agains excitedly whispering to each other in hops of what Ghira would say next. "My negotiations with the descendants of that family were met with gratitude and honor. My daughter Blake is to be betrothed to the Arc heir Jaune. Together our two notable families will hopefully bring about a faster resolution to faunus' equality all over Remnant!' Ghira exclaimed.

The crowd burst into cheers as Ghira walked back towards the ramp to the ship he had just got off of. "In fact young Jaune decided to come visit us in person to view the beauty of Menagerie. So everyone please welcome him to our home with open arms." Ghira said while waving an arm in the direction of the top of the walkway.

There now stood Jaune standing a bit in front of Blake slightly waving one of his hands to the crowd.

He was met with silence for only a brief moment before the crowd in front of him slowly started to cheer and yell his name in joy. "Woohoo! Go Jaune! Welcome to Menagerie young man! Come to the market district and try our fresh fish. Well met Jaune!"

Jaune quickly turned a crimson shade while continuing to slowly wave his hand to the crowd.

Behind the two children came Kali belladonna, the seemingly older copy of her daughter. She gently took ahold of both the children and started to push them down the ramp towards the crowd.

They both started to clam up before Ghira shouted out to everyone. "Alright everyone, it has been a long trip back home. The news that we were successful in gaining reputation on the mainlands is great news, but I would kindly ask that you let my family rest so that we may continue helping our community thrive."

Many of the villagers nodded and started to walk away back to their usual routine for the day. There were a few however that remained, those they were dressed in black and white uniforms with red hoods.

They quickly bowed before Ghira and then turned to go back to their daily duties. Jaune was a bit perplexed by this but decided to say nothing about it.

(~)

If Jaune ever thought that his house was big, then he really had to rethink that when he saw the house that the Belladonna's stayed in. It was a big two story ornate building that looked like it could easily fit his own family times three.

Blake casually prodded Jaune on the shoulder as he stopped to gape at the house, and snickered to herself at his surprised expression going back and forth from her to her house.

"Well Jaune. Here we are, the Belladonna household." Ghira said from behind the two children.

"Would you like Blake to give you a tour?" Kali suggested to him as he continued to look back and forth between the house and Blake.

Jaune could only turn to Blake and nod his head at her. She grew a thin smirk as she took ahold of his sleeve and then jogged to the house with him in tow.

As the two children ran off towards the house Ghira came closer to his wife and slung an arm around her shoulder. The two of them slowly strode towards the house while beginning to speak to one another.

"Do you really think that this plan will work dear?" Kali says in a slightly worried tone.

Ghira could only tighten his grip on her shoulder hoping to give her comfort. "I truly hope that it will work, if not for the faunus population...then at least our daughter." He said back to his wife.

Kali sighed as she leaned into Ghira and said, "I have no doubt that Blake can get through any obstacle in her way. I just hope that we can remove some of those obstacles."

Ghira smirked as he saw the two kids through a second floor window. Blake waved at him and Jaune stuck his head out admiring the view.

He waved back to Blake until she turned back to Jaune and dragged him to some other part of the house. "I believe that with Jaune any obstacles she does face will become so much easier."

Kali looked up at her husband in surprise and a suspicious look in her eyes. "Why do you say that? Didn't you just meet the boy not too long ago?"

"It's his soul Kali. It's so pure and strong. I would not doubt him to become a great huntsman someday." Ghira replied.

Kali just contemplated what he said as they continued on into their house.

(~)

For dinner the Belladonna's, plus Jaune, had a lovely meal consisting of fresh fish and some plant that Kali said was 'kelp'.

Normally Jaune didn't like seafood, but since this wasn't his house he would be polite and try the dish anyways. Once he took his first bite his mouth exploded in a shower of flavor.

"Wow this is great!" Jaune exclaimed as he started to wolf down his food.

Blake sat next to him and mirrored his actions in scarfing down the fish, her silent agreement that this dish was great.

Kali smiled next to her husband at the two children quickly consuming her cooking. ' _Well at least the boy has a good taste for quality food.'_

"My mom was actually starting to show me how to cook food, maybe you can teach me someday too Mrs. Belladonna." Jaune said as he finished with his plate of food.

Kali looked a bit surprised at the boy who sat across from her. "You _want_ to learn how to cook? Don't most boys want to run around and get in trouble?" she said with a teasing tone.

Jaune just smiled back at her. "Of course I wanna learn how to cook! I want to make all this tasty food for myself and my family!" he said while throwing his arms up into the air.

Ghira laughed at Jaune as he shyly put his arms back down on the table. "Maybe someday my wife can teach you how to cook, but for now come with me so we can get a pair of clothes you can sleep in." He said while standing up.

Jaune tilted his head in confusion at that though. "I already have clothes to sleep in though. They're in my bag back in the room I put it in."

Ghira shook his head as he walked up to Jaune and started to help the boy to his feet. "If you try to wear those you won't be able to get a tick of sleep here. You'll be too hot." He explained for the small boy.

Jaune could only nod and accept the information from the local of this place as he got up and followed Ghira out of the room.

Back in the room Kali and Blake still sat at the table with four empty plates in front of them.

"Well, now that the boys are gone how about you start getting ready for bed and I'll come say goodnight once I finish the dishes." Kali suggested to her daughter.

Usually Blake would accept what Kali said and be on her way, but today she continued to sit still while holding her utensil that she used to eat nervously.

"Mom...how long is Jaune going to be staying with us?" Blake said as she turned her gaze towards her empty plate.

Kali softly sighed to herself and stood from her resting place. She slowly walked towards her daughter and took her head in her hands.

Tilting her face so that their eyes met she now spoke, "Jaune will be here for about a week, but that doesn't mean that'll be the last time he ever comes back or that you won't ever visit his house."

Blake's eyes widened at the fact that she was going to have to go out of her way now to be with Jaune.

"Why? What's so special about Jaune?" Blake asked her mother.

Kali let go of her daughters face as she laughed and started to pick up the dishes at the table. "It's not so much that Jaune is special, more so that...well Jaune will become someone special to you." she said hoping that would be enough for Blake.

Apparently it wasn't enough since Blake jumped up from her seat and started following her mother. "Why will he be special to me? He's just a hu-..." Blake started to say before quickly shutting her mouth.

Kali narrowed her eyes and turned to look at Blake. "He's just a what, Blake? He's just a human?" Kali asked while Blake turned red.

"Blake…," Kali said as she put the dishes in her hand back down and knelt next to Blake, "...just because Jaune is a human and you're a faunus doesn't mean you have to distrust him. He's a nice boy who seems like he doesn't even care that you're a faunus."

"Nowadays that can be a bit hard to find in any person. So don't try to push him away out of suspicion or fear, because you could possibly ruin a friendship for a lifetime." Kail continued while slowly petting Blakes head.

Blake nodded while trying to stifle a yawn. Kali noticed however and turned her around by the shoulders. "Now go get ready for bed, I'll be there in a minute to tell you goodnight."

Blake nodded as she slowly shuffled towards her room in the house.

Kali smiled to herself as she saw her daughter walk off, and then thought to herself. ' _And to think only a few hours ago I was suspicious of the boy, and now I'm trying to make my daughter like him.'_

Kali laughed to herself while resuming getting the dishes and heading to the kitchen.

 **AN: Hello again, here's the next chapter that I took forever to actually finish. I'm really trying to make these chapters longer so that it's more worth the wait but I seem to always cap around 2k words. Anyone have some advice on how to expand these chapters so they're more beefy?!**


	4. Playground Pound

Blake didn't really understand why her parents were so persistent that she spend time with Jaune. Sure the first time she met him he was a bit weird, but he seemed alright enough. The second time was even stranger with all the cameras and people taking pictures of their two families.

Now normally Blake would have probably never have met with Jaune again if she had a choice. He didn't leave a lasting impression on her to make her want to see him again, but now that she was forced to be with him she was suspicious as to the reason why.  
She was a polite enough girl that she wouldn't do or say anything to his face, so she kept her mind to herself and looked for solace in her room for when she needed some alone time with her books.

It was even during one of those times that she hid away in her room that she got a very atrocious feeling in her gut.

She had spent all morning walking around Menagerie with Jaune. He was just an endless flow of words that just wouldn't stop. As polite as ever though, Blake had continued to converse back to Jaune even if they were sparse replies. After two hours though, her patience had begun to ran dry and she told Jaune she was tired of walking and that she was going to go home and read.

Jaune's response was to tell her he was fine on his own now, after two days of being toured around the island he thought he could find his way around. Besides, even if he couldn't find his way back he could always find the market district and ask how to get back from all the merchants he had already met there.

So it was another hour later as Blake had relaxed in her room with a book nestled comfortably into her lap that the terrible feeling had arisen.

She didn't know what compelled her, but her body had quickly gotten up and started rushing towards the front door to her house. She was in such a rush that she didn't even take the time to safely put her book down and it loudly crashed to the floor.

As she neared the door to leave, her mother's head poked out from a random doorway. Kali had just started to speak when Blake had already thrown the door open and was rushing outside.

Alarmed that her daughter had just evacuated the house as if it was on fire, she quickly decided to follow her daughter to whatever her destination may be.

(~)

In a random park swing in Menagerie sat Jaune as he slowly swung by himself. He didn't know why but there seemed to be no other kids around during this time of day, and Blake had decided to head home already so he was effectively alone until he decided to head back to the Belladonnas house.

Not quite ready to go back yet, Jaune persisted in sadly swinging by himself on the swing set hoping some other kid would come outside to play.

 _*SIGH* 'I wish I was back home with my family, at least then I know Jane would come out and play with me.'_ Jaune thought to himself.

Another few minutes passed by with no one around, and Jaune was about to give up hope when he saw three boys start walking towards him.

The three boys all looked to be about his age, maybe a year or two older, but that wouldn't make any difference when it came to playing outside.

Jaune smiled as he got up from the swing set and gave a slight wave to the three boys. "Hi there. My name's Ja-" Jaune started to say before one of the other boys started talking.

"Yah we know who you are." said a boy with long blond hair that was tied up in a bun, a single horn protruding from his head.

"You're Jaune Arc, the human that came from the city of Vale with great news." another boy with short light green hair and a scaled tail said sarcastically.

Jaune gave a slight nervous laugh at the boy with green hairs tone. He didn't know if he was being serious or that was how these boys liked to joke around.

Suddenly the last boy with short brown hair and rainbow feathers coming from different places on his body moved forward with a frown. "What are you laughing at punk?!"

"Yah!" said the boy with the horn. "Is it because we're faunus? You think because you're a human you can laugh at us?"

Jaune's eyes quickly widened as he put his hand up and quickly took a few steps back. "W-what of course I wouldn't laugh at you for being faunus." He said quickly, the back of his legs bumping the swing that he was just on.

The three boys just looked at him and then at each other, before looking back at him. Quickly the three boys all broke out into smiles and started cackling at Jaune.

The boy with the horn and the boy with the tail both started to walk to Jaunes sides while the kid with the feathers walked right up to him. "Of course you wouldn't be doing that! You would have to be an idiot to do that."

Jaune started to relax as he saw that the kids were just joking with him and started to smile, before the kid with the feathers decided to push him in the chest.

Normally this wouldn't do much to Jaune except move him back a foot or two, but with both his side blocked by the other boys and a swing behind his legs Jaune toppled over the seat and did a small flip before landing on his face.

The three boys quickly started to laugh again at Jaune as he laid on the floor dazed and a bit hurt, not really knowing what had just happened.

The boys quickly moved to surround Jaune again as he was down and started to prod him with the tips of their shoes. "Look at him he doesn't even know what's going on!" said the kid with the tail mocking Jaune.

"Well maybe this will teach him what's happening!" said the kid with the horn as he started to rear his right foot back and aim for Jaune's torso.

"HEY! LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Blake yelled from the direction the boys had entered the park.

She was breathing heavily and looked a bit sweaty, but other than that she looked fine.

The three boys on the other hand were shocked to see this girl appear from almost nowhere and yell at them. "Isn't that Blake Belladonna?" asked the rainbow feather kid.

"Yeah it is. I'm pretty sure she's been babysitting this idiot for the past two days also!" said the kid with a tail.

The three of them started to smile as they now left Jaune and started to walk towards Blake. "Maybe we need to teach her a lesson too." said the kid with a horn as he started to crack his knuckles.

Before they had even made it five feet though Jaune had quickly jumped up to his feet at the mention of teaching Blake a lesson and had jumped onto the kid with rainbow feathers back.

"Don't even think about touching her!" Jaune shouted as his surprise jump tackle shoved the rainbow feather boy onto the ground knocking the wind out of him.

Jaune quickly turned to the boy with a tail and tried to shove him hard enough to make him fall, but it was quickly Jaune's turn to be surprised as the boy effortlessly rightened himself as he was pushed back.

"A tail really does mean something you idiot." as the boy with a tail said while winding back his fist to hit Jaune.

"JUST WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Shouted Kali as she finally caught up to her daughter who was frozen to her spot as the boy with the tail was already swinging his fist.

Jaune immediately turned to look at Kaile and that ended up with him getting a left hook right to nose. As he fell the boy with the horn quickly turned and started to take off, the rainbow feather boy was already scrambling up when Kali came and ran after his friend. The boy with the tail however wasn't so lucky.

Before he could finish nursing his hand from the pain of punching someone in the nose, Kali had walked right up to him and grabbed him by the ear yelling at him.

Jaune didn't hear most of what Kali said as he was focused on the splitting pain that was coming from the middle of his face. He rolled around for a bit before a pair of small hands settled on his arm trying to lift his body from the ground, and as he slowly looked up he saw it was Blake tugging on him with a worried look on her face.

"Does it look bad?" Jaune asked a bit nasally with a grimace.

Blake didn't respond though as she continued to pull to get Jaune up from the ground. Having enough of being on the ground for the day and with Blake's tugging Jaune finally got up from the ground and stood.

Blake didn't give him a chance to speak as she quickly took one of his small hands into hers and started to guide him back to her house.

She didn't speak on the way there but he could feel the tension growing between the two of them as he was dragged along.

It took them no more than five minutes to get back to the Belladonna residence, and once they were both safe within the confines of the house Blake sharply turned on Jaune and slightly shoved him away from her.

"What were you thinking?!" Blake shouted at Jaune with her small hands balled up into tight fists and the edge of her eyes a soft red.

"Those boys could have really hurt you! Why didn't you just run away?" Blake continued to yell at him, the red around her eyes growing and now watering.

Blake didn't say anything else as Jaune just stood there thinking of what he should say to calm Blake down. "I didn't want them to hurt you." Jaune said simply.

Jaune would have hoped that this answer would calm Blake down but it seemed to do the complete opposite.

"To hurt me! I'm smart and would have ran away before they got to close to me!" Blake yelled again. "You just needlessly got yourself hurt for nothing!"

Jaune took a moment again to think. He swore that Blake wouldn't have been able to run away. She was rooted to the spot when those boys had started to walk towards her. So instead of saying something else that might get him yelled at Jaune just stayed quiet and hung his head down.

Blake took in a deep breath and shakily let it out. Her hands unclenching and a tear finally falling from her eyes. She shuffles her feet at the quiet before deciding to speak up again.

"S-sorry for yelling at you...and...thanks. For not letting them hurt me." Blake said quietly. "I just...I don't know how to feel when it comes to you Jaune." Blake continues.

Jaune lifts his head now as he sees Blake looking away from him. "Everyone keeps saying that you're important to me and that we should get along...but I barely know you." She finishes.

Jaune looks at her in the eyes and then laughs a bit, then quickly stops when pain floods through his head. When he catches Blake's glare he quickly begins to speak. "I-i'm not laughing _at_ you. I'm laughing with you." Jaune says.

"Everyone around me has been telling me the same thing about you, and that together we're going to make a bigger difference than if we were separate." Jaune continues.

Blake just stares at Jaune as he says this with narrowed eyes. "Then why are you trying so hard to make this seem normal?" She questions.

"Because...if everyone is right...and we can make a bigger difference together than separate, then I would be willing to try my hardest!" Jaune said with a small smile.

Blake remained silent for a moment hoping he would say more, but when he didn't she just sighed and closed her eyes.

"If you're trying so hard to make this work...then maybe I can put in a bit of effort also." She said.

The two kids looked each other in the eyes, each noticing the other not wavering.

(~)

When Kali came back she didn't expect her daughter and Jaune to be having a fierce staring competition.

She did however have to treat Jaune's probably broken nose. "I'm back you two." She said just loud enough to get their attention.

Quickly the two of them jumped in place and turned to look at her. She laughed to herself and then walked towards Jaune while grabbing him by the shoulders and walking him towards the kitchen.

"We have a lot to talk about young man." Kali said while Jaune started to clam up. As they entered the kitchen she had Jaune sit down on a chair.

She quickly moved around the kitchen. Grabbing a glass of water, a collection of different herbs from different cupboards, and a small bundle of ice wrapped in a plastic bag.

She handed the ice pack as she dropped a few herbs into the water and swirled it around a bit and then using her free hand to gently poke at Jaune's nose.

"Owww." Jaune groaned as Kali placed her hand on his nose and then quickly took it away again.

"Well at least it's not broken and just bruised." She said.

"How can you tell?" Jaune asked while warily eyeing the now cloudy water glass.

"Well if it was broken then you would be crying your eyes out after I touched it." Kali said with a slight smile.

She took the ice pack from Jaune and now handed him the cloudy water. "Now drink this. It'll help with the blood flow in your body and make the bruise go away faster."

Jaune gave another groan but didn't refuse the drink as he began to accept it. He had only gotten two gulps down when he gagged and had to put down the glass.

"I thought it's supposed to help me not poison me!" Jaune said in a strained voice.

Kali laughed a bit at Jaune antics. "Well if you were a good boy and didn't get into fights, then maybe you wouldn't have to drink this." she said with a teasing tone.

Jaune quickly shrunk further into his chair at her words and didn't make another sound. "But...since you only did it to defend Blake, maybe you can get a treat too." Kali said quietly as she pulled out a popsicle from one of her pockets and handed it to Jaune.

Jaune smiled and happily tore away the wrapping before quickly plopping the candy in his mouth trying to get rid of the taste of the nasty water concoction.

"Now Jaune. I want you to lie down and rest while keeping this ice pack over your nose." Kali said in a demanding voice. "That means no running, jumping, or playing to rough!" She said.

Jaune nodded as he started to get up. Kali smiled and patted his head as he started to walk off towards the room that was his during his stay.

(~)

"So…" Ghira said as he climbed into bed with Kali, who was already nice and settled into the bed. "I've heard a rumor earlier today about a certain boy at a park." he continued with a grin.

Kali just gave him a cross look as she starts to turn onto her side and face away from Ghira.

Ghira laughs as he comes down and wraps himself onto his wife. "I'm only teasing you my dear, I would never say... _I told you so_." Ghira quietly whispered into Kali's ears.

Kali quickly turned red as she turned onto her other side to see Ghira and start swatting at him with her arms.

Within Jaune and Blake's separate rooms they could hear Ghira's thunderous laugh for the next few minutes before sleep overtook the two kids.

 **AN: Here it be, another chapter for thee.**


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